Following a thorough restoration completed in 2017, Frank Lloyd Wright's early modern masterpiece, Unity Temple in Oak Park, IL, was designated in 2019 as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, "The 20th Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright". It was a fitting recognition for a building whose ground-breaking form and transcendent interior spaces brought its architect international recognition when published as part of a portfolio of his work in Berlin in 1910, the two-volume Wasmuth Portfolio.
Designed for a Unitarian congregation when he was not yet 40 years old, and dedicated in 1909, it still serves the same congregation today. In addition to serving as a worship space, Unity Temple Restoration Foundation (the secular, nonprofit organization responsible for the preservation of the building) presents educational and performing arts programs, highlighting the building's excellent acoustical and spatial qualities. As a sublime work of art, it has long attracted visitors from around the world.
Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970 by the US Department of the Interior, it has also been designated as one of the architect's "indispensable" buildings by the American Institute of Architects. More recently, its restoration, carried out by Harboe Architects with major funding by the Alphawood Foundation, received the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
This book, a complete rethinking of an earlier one by the same team, tells the story of Unity Temple's design and creation and includes all new post-restoration photography by noted architectural photographer James Caulfield. Turning its pages will give you a complete tour of one of the most important buildings of the 20th century.
